100,000 Dogs to Be Poisoned to Death Posted By Freelance Writers Date: 7/03 Posted Under: Animal Welfare, Social Issues written by HILAL AHMED, AP

Authorities in Indian Kashmir have begun poisoning stray dogs in an anti-rabies drive that aims to kill some 100,000 dogs in the regions main city, officials said Thursday

Officials in Indian-controlled Kashmir plan to kill 100,000 stray dogs in the regions main city. They say the packs of homeless dogs spread rabies and sometimes menace people. Animal rights activists said Thursday they will go to court to stop the slaughter. Animal rights activists vowed to go to court to stop the slaughter planned by Srinagar city, saying it is an illegal and cruel solution to a problem that could be better addressed with other methods.

With the worlds highest rabies fatality rate, India has grappled with ways to control the millions of stray dogs that live on its streets.

In Srinagar, city officials vowed to press ahead with the plan already under way to poison strays with strychnine.

These dogs have become a big nuisance and they are threatening humans, said Dr. Riyaz Ahmad, the Srinagar city health officer who is organizing the killing.

It was not clear Thursday how many dogs have already been killed.

Animal activists said they would try to stop the poisoning drive, said Javaid Iqbal Shah, the deputy head of the Srinagar Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals.

Shah said using strychnine was particularly cruel, causing terrible suffering to the dogs, crippling their nervous systems and choking them.

I have seen children cry when they pass by these dying dogs, he said.

Shah said he had proposed the city sterilize strays instead but acknowledged that his organization had only managed to neuter 400 dogs in the last two years.

India accounts for more than 60 percent of the worlds estimated 35,000 annual rabies deaths, according to the World Health Organization, and stray dogs are often blamed.

In some areas, dogs form feral packs that have attacked people. However, other strays are community pets, semi-tame animals who are cared for and fed by local residents.